All Signs Point to summer with locally distilled Compass Summer GiNS

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Published: Jul 03 at 5:48 p.m.

Updated: Jul 16 at 9:54 a.m.

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Gin lovers, rejoice! We’ve found your new favourite summer sipper. Compass Distillers Summer GiNS checks all the boxes. Local? Check. Made using 100 per cent Nova Scotian ingredients? Check. Not only is it local and seasonal — it’s delicious too.

First released last fall, Summer GiNS truly represents Nova Scotia summer in a bottle. Summer GiNS uses the best local ingredients, including wheat from the Annapolis Valley and botanicals gathered and grown throughout the province. Compass’ Head Distiller Ezra Edelstein used a blend of juniper, peaches, plums, Queen Anne’s Lace, wild rose petals, golden rod, ginger, chanterelle mushrooms, red clover, elderberries and sweet fern (among numerous other herbs and botanicals) in their first release of the seasonal spirit. The majority of the botanicals used are foraged in the wild by East Coast Wild Foods, in combination with some locally cultivated products as well.

Distinctly Nova Scotian in taste, Edelstein describes the seasonal GiNS as a quintessentially Nova Scotian spirit. “Simply put, our Summer GiNS is Nova Scotia summer in a bottle. It truly is a seasonal spirit representation of Nova Scotian terroir,” he commented. “It’s an ocean breeze, a walk through nature…a true representation of our surroundings. We took all things reminiscent of a Nova Scotia summer and bottled it. It’s fresh, fruity and floral – we were able to capture those flavours and bottle them to share with people and we’re pretty proud of that.”

Summer GiNS is part of the Compass Distillers’ seasonal foraged GiNS collection that will be released each year, with ingredients chosen based on what’s in season. Stay tuned for Autumn and Winter GiNS featuring herbs and botanicals readily available during those times of year. It’s an innovative concept for spirits, because these GiNS will vary by vintage in the same way that wines do, which fits nicely with the overall food and drink culture that’s growing here in Nova Scotia.

Achieving world firsts? Check! Part of the Compass GiNS collection, Spring GiNS – released on July 1, 2018, was the first gin ever made using entirely Nova Scotian ingredients. Spring GiNS was awarded the 2018 Nova Scotia Product of the Year by Taste of Nova Scotia. If you haven’t tried Spring or Summer GiNS, you’d better hurry, as these releases are limited edition. There were just over 1,000 bottles of Summer GiNS produced. Compass Summer GiNS is available at select NSLC stores on the Buyers’ Picks tables or online, while quantities last.